Certain processes for manufacturing fluorocarbons result in the production of azeotropic mixtures of the desired fluorocarbon and hydrogen fluoride. Such azeotropic mixtures may be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Although it is difficult to separate the components of any azeotropic mixture, the separation of the components of a homogeneous azeotropic mixture is particularly difficult.
Various methods for separating the fluorocarbon from azeotropic mixtures are known. As one example, extractive distillation using a component dissolvable in the hydrogen fluoride and producing an insoluble liquid phase enriched in the fluorocarbon has been disclosed. However, extractive distillation both adds cost and time and requires a step in which the extracting agent is recovered.
Therefore, a need exists for a method for efficiently separating fluorocarbons from fluorocarbon/hydrogen fluoride azeotropic mixtures. The present invention provides such a method.